Congress Wants Your Church to Spend $50,000?

Shelves of food at the Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, DC. Photo by Crista Friedli.

Are the food lines at your local food pantry long? They could be getting a lot longer.

The House of Representatives just proposed to cut more than $169 billion from SNAP, formerly the food stamps program. Some representatives argued that feeding hungry people is really the work of the churches.

These representatives are essentially saying that every church across America — big, small, and tiny — needs to come up with an extra $50,000 dedicated to feeding people — every year for the next 10 years — to make up for these cuts.The Hartford Institute for Religion and Research estimates there are 335,000 religious congregations in the United States. If the proposals by the House of Representatives to cut SNAP by $133.5 billion and $36 billion are enacted, each congregation will have to spend approximately $50,000 to feed those who would see a reduction or loss of benefits.

More than 46 million Americans depend on SNAP to help put food on their tables every day. SNAP has prevented our nation’s economic crisis from turning into a hunger crisis. Congress must not turn its back on our nation's commitment to protect vulnerable people from hunger.

Sign the petition now to let Congress know you and your faith community won’t stand for the long lines of hungry people this proposal will create.

Rev. Gary Cook is director of government relations at Bread for the World.

Comments

Matthew 25 does tell us to feed the hungry. There is nothing in Matthew 25 that directs Christians to do the work required of elected governmental people.
I serve two churches. $50k is the budget of one church; it is nearly ten times the budget of the other church.
Step up, Congress, and do the work set before you.

Really? How much volunteer time and money do these guys think we all have! They are so out of touch with everyday people that what they believe has no foothold in reality! Our food pantry at St. John has been in existance since 1983. Many of our same volunteers have given countless hours for 30 years. Our hope and prayer is that the need goes down, not up! We really don't have the energy to do this forever! It is impossible (unless no one is working at your church) to get a steady stream of volunteers and new faces (so that the regulars don't get burnt out), to work for free. Do any of these guys (and I say that literally) ever volunteer on a regular basis? If they did, they wouldn't foist new responsibilities on the already over extended.

"hungry people this proposal will create." The proposed budget created hungry people?

My hope is that the church would share the good news and subsequent joy of those believers will minister to others, and Christ will sustain that "work".

Your works should be a joy to you. If they are not, if you are "furious", is your witness effective?

Consider that this nation, poor as it is, recently raised well over $200,000,000 in just the course of 3 days, by an unknown group of donors, of which none of my family committed anything to it, and I doubt one corporate dollar was given to that fund. Where did that come from? Where did it all go? May our "work" guide those funds to be used compassionately. When others see the suffering results of sin in the world, and the saving grace in Jesus Christ, that result can happen.

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Bread for the World is a collective Christian voice urging our nation’s decision makers to end hunger at home and abroad. By changing policies, programs and conditions that allow hunger and poverty to persist, we provide help and opportunity far beyond the communities in which we live. Bread for the World is a 501(c)(4).